Fremont Ellis, Autumn Aspens (or Taos Woodland Scene), 1929, oil on canvas, 29 x 37 inches (framed), gift of Dr. John and Elizabeth Christlieb, 1982.0032.
Collection Connections: Art in Conversation
First Floor, Main & South Galleries
January 20–July 25, 2026
In 2026, the Center for Great Plains Studies and its Great Plains Art Museum celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Center and the 45th anniversary of the museum’s opening. To commemorate these milestones, this exhibition highlights artworks from the collection that span the museum’s history, from the founding donation to recent acquisitions. Rather than presenting these selections in a chronological arrangement, artworks are paired or grouped to focus on formal and thematic connections and emphasize the diverse perspectives that tell the multifaceted stories of the Great Plains.
Dwight Kirsch, Big Sandhill near Burwell, Nebraska, with Melting Snow at Sunset, 1940s, gouache on bogus paper, 18 3/4 x 23 7/8 inches, gift of JoAnn Kelly Alexander, 2008.0003.0074.
“All the Beauty You Can See”: Dwight Kirsch in Nature
First Floor, West Gallery
January 20–July 25, 2026
A native Nebraskan and prolific artist, Dwight Kirsch (1899–1981) was an important figure in the Lincoln arts community in the early-to-mid twentieth century, serving as chair of the University of Nebraska Art Department and playing an integral role in the Nebraska Art Association. The Great Plains Art Museum’s extensive collection of Kirsch’s work spans his time teaching in Nebraska through his last years at the Colorado State Veterans Nursing Home. This exhibition presents a small sampling of those holdings, each selected to demonstrate Kirsch’s deep and lifelong fascination with conveying the nuances and beauty of the natural world through art.
Chase Kahwinhut Earles (Caddo Nation), The Caddo Story of Night and Day, 2016, low-fire clay; hand-coiled, burnished, kiln-fired, and pit fire smudged, 10 x 8 (diam) inches, purchased through the generosity of the Woods Charitable Fund, 2016.0008.0001. © Chase Kahwinhut Earles.
Indigenous Ceramics from the Collection
Mezzanine Gallery
January 20–July 25, 2026
This permanent collection spotlight exhibition in the museum’s Mezzanine Gallery features diverse ceramic works by Indigenous artists of the Great Plains and nearby Southwest region.
Sarah Rowe (Lakota/Ponca Tribe of Nebraska), For My Fleabitten Diamond, 2022, oil, acrylic, and ink on canvas, 48 x 72 inches, commissioned for the Elizabeth Rubendall Artist-in-Residence Collection, 2022.0004.0001. © Sarah Rowe. Used by permission.
With a Little Help from Our Friends: New Perspectives on the Collection
Lower-level Gallery
March 6–August 8, 2026
Organized in honor of the Center for Great Plains Studies’ 50th anniversary in 2026, this exhibition highlights the important interdisciplinary focus of the Center and its core intellectual community, the Great Plains Fellows. The Fellows as a group are scholars and community members who are concerned with the past, present, and future of the Great Plains, and they support the Center and its mission in myriad ways.
For this exhibition, 20 Fellows representing diverse disciplines and all four University of Nebraska campuses were invited to select an artwork from the Great Plains Art Museum’s permanent collection and respond to it in any way they chose, whether that’s examining the work through their scholarly lens or through their own lived experiences. This project provides a new avenue for Fellows to engage with the Center and Museum while also sharing fresh and varied perspectives on works in its collection.
Participating Fellows:
Charles J. Bicak, Emeritus Senior VC Academic and Student Affairs, UNK
Christina Dando, Department Chair & Professor, Geography, UNO
Cristián Doña-Reveco, Associate Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, Director, Office of Latino/Latin American Studies, UNO
Sherilyn Fritz, George Holmes Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, UNL
Thomas Gannon, Associate Professor, English & Ethnic Studies, UNL
Angel Hinzo, Assistant Professor, History and Ethnic Studies, UNL
Andrew Husa, Lecturer, Geography, UNL
Regina Idoate, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Promotion, UNMC
Darby Kurtz, Assistant Professor; Archivist and Public Historian, UNMC
Salvador Lindquist, Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture, UNL
Peter Longo, Professor, Political Science, UNK
Louise Lynch-O’Brien, Assistant Professor, Entomology, UNL
Gwendŵr Meredith, Assistant Professor, Natural Resources, UNL
Larkin Powell, Professor, Natural Resources, UNL
Athena Ramos, Associate Professor, Center for Reducing Health Disparities, UNMC
Todd Richardson, James R. Schumacher Chair of Ethics; Professor, Goodrich Scholarship Program, UNO
Beth Ritter, Associate Professor, Anthropology & Native American Studies, UNO
Liahnna Stanley, Assistant Professor of Indigeneity, Native Studies, and Communication, University of Utah (formerly Assistant Professor, Communication Studies and Ethnic Studies, UNL)
William Stoutamire, Assistant Professor, History, UNK
Laurinda Weisse, University Archivist & Digital Repository Manager, Libraries, UNK